


Black Rose Potion

by roshytsunami



Series: FFXV Halloween week 2019 [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Magic, witch!Prompto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:46:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21539989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roshytsunami/pseuds/roshytsunami
Summary: Prompto is a witch who loses control of his powers. Maybe going on quest with a mysterious raven might solve that issue.
Series: FFXV Halloween week 2019 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527227
Kudos: 19





	Black Rose Potion

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to EzraBlue for editing this. Dude seriously thank you. And sorry it's so late but you know what have some halloween fun to push back that Christmas cheer and enjoy :)

Alright, so Prompto may not be the best witch, but he tried. He didn’t mean to have the potion slip down the cauldron and cause an entity from hell to arise to materialize in his master’s house. It was an accident and the entity wasn’t that evil... well, not really. The “demon” did have an evil laugh, mentioned revenge and left to cause chaos... Alright, so maybe it was evil, but it was stopped before any real damage could happen, right?

Sure, the thing left. It only entered another town and caused a bit of chaos, but no one was harmed. Not really. Just some chaos and damage to the town and it was all his fault. That thought made him cringe in on himself as he walked through the forest. 

For his “crimes”, Prompto had been banished by his master, disallowed from returning home until he either received or found the rare Black Rose. The Black Rose was said to be on the tallest hill in the village surrounded by vicious poisonous vipers and could only be plucked under a full moon. It would be an impossible feat to accomplish so, while wanting to respect his master’s demand but also wanting to actually end his banishment without dying in the process, Prompto had ventured into the forest thinking of a new plan to impress his master enough to become his apprentice again.

The blonde sighs, sitting under a tree and musing to himself, “What could possibly be better than getting a Black Rose? There has to be some other way to impress him,” he pouts to himself, leaning on one of his hands. “Maybe if I was better at magic like the Prince Noctis, he might be impressed. Or I might not have unleashed that entity.” He let out a high sigh, frowning as he turned the situation over in his head again.

He’s interrupted from his thoughts when he sees a crow, or maybe a raven, land by him and raises an eyebrow. “Oh hey, there little guy. Where’d you come from? I thought all birds migrated already?”

The blackbird merely squawks at him and hops towards Prompto. He flaps his wings and lands on Prompto’s knee.

“Whoa, you’re a friendly bird aren’t you,” he laughs as the bird tilts his head as if understanding. Prompto squints at the gesture and shakes his head. He’s just seeing things, there’s no such thing as sentient birds unless they are cursed humans or a demon in disguise and this bird looks too normal to be either of those.

The bird squawks at him again from his knee, then grooms his feathers. Prompto frowns as he tries to figure out what the bird wanted. “Hmm, are you hungry? I’ve only got a bit of food,” he states before looking in his bag and pulling at the loaf of bread he managed to grab before leaving town. “I, uh,” he starts, then hesitates as the bird tilts its head oddly. Prompto was convinced it was listening to him. Well, maybe it’d be nice to have someone to talk to. “I kind of caused a big scene in my village,” he says, while breaking the bread into tiny pieces holding his hand flat out to the bird to eat. “I unleashed this dark entity, a bad one and it wrecked the town... only buildings! No one got hurt but my master... or my ex-master I guess,” he says, shaking his head at the thought. “He said I had to leave, never return unless I get the black rose from the tallest hill. Which is impossible!” 

The bird continues to peck at his hand, and Prompto groans. “No one has been able to do it! Not even Noctis, and he’s the best wizard ever.” He sighs, laying on his back. He feels the talons bouncing on his shirt and sees the crow pecking at a loose thread on his shirt.

“Huh? Noctis?” The bird pecks his shirt again. “Oh, you want to know about him? Well, I don’t know much besides the fact he’s some super wizard. It’s in his royal blood or whatever and... ugh, it’s not fair. I bet it came easy to him,” he pouts again at the thought, until he feels the bird peck his hand.

“Okay, maybe not easy, but still! He’s done so much and he’s the same age as me, and I can barely start a fire without burning the house down.” At that, the raven squawks in laughter and Prompto grimaces. “Yeah, laugh it up. I can’t control my magic and I tried to do everything by the book but it’s just so difficult.” he sighs as the raven pokes him with his beak. Inspiration strikes and Prompto sits up all at once. “I got it!”

“There’s a masquerade tonight! I can sneak back into the village.” He gesticulated to the bird, imagining all the cool tricks he could do. “I’ll perform some great magic skill, impress my master, and then reveal that, hey it’s your boy Prompto that did it!” He beams at the raven who squawks with confusion.

“It’s perfect, just gotta figure out how to make a mask and of what...” he stands and begins to pace, and the raven flies to land on his shoulder. “Hmm, a fox? No, what could I use as a mask? I got grass and a tree,” he says and turns to stare at the tree above him. “Hey! It’s a Hazel tree! I can make a rabbit mask, I just need...” Before he can finish his sentence, he feels the raven nip at his ear.

“Ouch! What’s that for?” The raven, instead of answering (given that it was a bird), hopped on the ground around the stones. “Oh, those are just... smooth pebbles. You’re smart. I need to move those before I can get a branch from the tree. Trees don’t like stones to touch their branches. They’re opposite magics in some senses and mixing different elemental magics doesn’t always give the best results.”

Once the stones had been removed, Prompto climbs the tree with ease and breaks off a small branch. He tears the leaves off, giving it thanks with a muttered prayer, before rearranging the leaves into a rabbit-like shape. 

Once he has it in the image he wants, he clears his throat and speaks the magic words, moving the branch and leaves in a swirl as they crack and break reforming into smooth textures that look more and more like a wooden rabbit mask. Once the magic is completed, Prompto takes a look at his work and winces.

The piece does look like a rabbit but it looks like a five-year-old made it with cheap supplies. It’s not terrible but it’s not that great either. The raven squawks loudly, rolling on the ground and dusting it’s feathers as if howling with laughter.

Prompto glares at him, “At least it will cover my face for tonight and looks like a rabbit! I don’t see you doing anything to help” He says sticking his tongue out at the raven. He sees the raven look dejected? Can a bird look sad and... well Prompto kneels down.

“Alright, that was mean. I’m sorry. I just really want to master my magic and I can’t do it without a wizard.”

The raven squawks loudly at Prompto and jumps on the ground. “Okay, okay... don’t know what you are saying but this is kind of my only chance to harness my magic so if I fail... well I won’t so you gotta wish me luck, little raven,” He smiles, then straps the mask over his face and turns to head back to the village. 

The raven tilts its head, watching the blonde leave him alone in the forest. It squawks loudly after the human but doesn’t gain his attention. Instead, a fox and a bear appear beside him, grumbling. There is a glint in the raven’s eye as it eyes the blonde as he vanishes down the path.

\------

Prompto arrives back in the village just as soon as he left it. His disguise is in place and luckily he doesn’t seem to be as obvious as he was before. Or the people are just getting ready for the masquerade fall festival. It’s a mix between a fall festival with games for the younger children such as bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, and a cakewalk. Luckily one of the older men or women stays to watch after the children while the parents or younger couples participate in the masquerade.

Prompto bumps into a couple as he walks through the fall festivities. They appear to be dressed as an apple and an orange. “I guess they were going for opposites attract,” Prompto thought, shaking his head and smiling to himself, “but still it is pretty cheesy seeing the couples match for the masquerade ball. It’s a masquerade ball! It should have some form of mystery or element of surprise!”

Prompto grins as he spots his previous master up ahead. No one could fake his limp, so no disguise could hide that it was him. This, he thought, was his chance to perform something magical for the masquerade, something special that will draw attention to him but not cause a scene or any more problems. It’s at that moment he realizes he had not thought of what magical feat he could perform for the villagers.

He begins anyway.

Prompto took a deep breath before moving his hands, slowly and deliberately, the gestures becoming faster as the spell wove together, more and more complex as he went on. After a moment, blooms made of fire began to form in the air, blossoming into larger flowers that swayed in the slight breeze blowing down the street. He was really doing it! He was actually controlling the flames above, the flowers spinning and floating through the air as the people around him took notice and looked on, letting out “oooooo”s and “aaaaaaa”s and children squealed in delight. It was working! It was great! It was perfect! At least it was… until the fire grew out of control.

The flowers that had started out intricate and elaborate were morphing, changing before his eyes and without his say-so, into long ropes and coils that began to reach for people. Prompto panicked and tried to reel his magic back in, then panicked even more as he desperately tried to wrestle control back.

As if to spite him, the flames kept twisting into new shapes, forming scales and red flickering eyes in the head of a snake. Then, came fangs made of blue flames, and the infernal illusion hissed at the people below. The panicked spectators scattered, chaos spreading outward like a firework and just as out of control as Prompto’s magic. Prompto’s panic swelled as his hands shook, the flame creature still twisting and moving by itself. His breath hitches as he curses quietly to himself, trapped in his own mind and lost on what to do now. 

This was not part of the plan! Damn it! He hadn’t meant to make this happen. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted!

He jumps when a pair of smooth hands land on his. He looks over his shoulder and spots a man wearing a raven mask hitting pressure points on Prompto’s wrist.

“Bend your wrist inward,” the man speaks. Prompto follows his commands as best as he can; however, the panic is making his hands shake and making him lose his grip on his powers. The thoughts are screaming through his head, I can’t do this, I can’t control my magic and everyone is going to die because I wanted to learn magic again.

The man with the raven mask pulls on Prompto’s hand suddenly, and Prompto feels warmth wrap his body. Prompto realizes the man is letting his own magic support Prompto’s. Like training wheels on a bicycle. Gradually, the snake-like flames shrink and diminish, and it rolls itself in the dirt, hissing, smoking and smoldering as it extinguishes itself out from existence.

Prompto pulls his hands back shaking, “Th-thanks.”

Before the man can respond, Prompto’s master shouts: “WHAT TYPE OF WIZARD UNLEASHES A FIRE SNAKE AT A FESTIVAL?!” 

In an instant, his master is in front of him, and Prompto feels the string break around his mask as his master yanks it off. His master’s face turns red boiling brighter than the hottest flame. “Prompto!” Prompto flinches at his master’s shout. His master can barely form words as he sputters out curses and indignities at Prompto, and Prompto hunches in on himself, backing away from his former master.

Suddenly, his master grabs his wand from his robes and raises it, making a threat he can’t form in words. Prompto holds his hands out in front of his face. “Please Mr. Verstael, I didn’t mean─”

“You never mean anything,” he hisses, wand still raised, and releases a curse in Prompto’s direction.

By some luck, the spell fizzles. A barrier had been placed around Prompto at the last second. Prompto turns and sees the masked man who’d helped him before, grinning. “Oh, come now, Verstael, the fire was contained and no one got hurt. Also, wasn’t that a wonderful way to frighten people?” The man’s voice drags out before waving his hand in a serving motion as fog and smoke forms around the two men.

Prompto can’t see through the thick fog, but he can hear his previous master’s voice curse his name and threaten him to never return. He feels someone grab his hand and comes face to mask with the man in the Raven costume. He has beautiful blue eyes.

“Prompto, is it? Come on, we gotta move before the fog disappears.” The masked man turns and leads Prompto through the fog, soon turning down an abandoned walkway. The masked man interlocks his arm with Prompto’s and slows down. “Okay, don't be alarmed. Try to stay calm and walk slowly.”

Prompto nods his head and blushes at the contact. Is this really happening? Is some man really walking him out of this village that almost tried to kill him? He sees the blobs, impossibly black blobs of clay, before the masked man does, and pauses mid-step. “Hey… they’re following us. Those things are nasty and─”

“Your master worked with demons?” The masked man asks, quickening his pace down the pathway as the blobs begin to join together and move faster.

“He’s the only magic user here… well besides me so he can do what he wants,” Prompto says, seeing one of the tendrils from the black blob inch closer towards them.

“Hold on tight,” the man interrupts, and they lift up into the air with ease, leaving the blobs crashing into each other as they begin floating in the air.

Prompto lets out an undignified squeak. The stranger chuckles behind his mask, “Just stick your legs out and begin walking,” he states as they walk on air above the village out towards the forest. Prompto holds on tight.

“You… you - how? Oh my gosh,” he says as they finally begin to descend and land outside the village a mile or so away. Prompto’s knees buckle, and he kneels on the ground. “Oh good, solid ground.”

The man in the mask snorts: “A witch scared of heights?”

“Hey, if we were meant to be in the air, we would have wings!” Prompto pouts, then looks back at the masked man. “But uh thanks for the help back there. I guess… I should leave before you get caught in trouble with me. I guess I am really cursed.”

The man in the mask snorts. “You’re not cursed, but I need to ask you for a favor.”

Prompto groans, “Oh man, what do you want, my future baby? Wait, witches can’t have babies─hold on, a favor? I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he laughs as the man only smiles beneath his mask. “You saw what I did when I changed the flowers into a snake.”

The man behind the mask laughs. “Your power’s raw and untrained.” Prompto face turns red from the shame. “Hey, that’s a good thing! You have a lot of raw power. Your control just needs some fine-tuning. You didn’t even need a wand to channel your energy, your magic.”

“Yeah, see how great that works for me,” Prompto mumbles.

The man in the mask sighs and crosses his arms. “Look, I saved you. You owe me a favor and it’s not a difficult one to follow. There will be a bird by your side in the morning. Follow him and listen to him.”

Prompto raises an eyebrow. “Why can’t you follow him?”

The man in the mask snorts. “I am on other business and don’t have time to waste following the bird. Please, just follow him and do not fear the animals he might attract. As long as you follow the bird, he will guide you to an item that I need.”

Prompto eyes the man curiously. “Wait a second, will this item kill anyone? Are you trying to take over the world?”

The masked stranger laughs again, holding up his hands as if to show he was unarmed and harmless. “No way! Nothing like that. I just wish to have this item brewed as a tea to help with my health.” 

“... You want me to go on a grocery run with a bird?!” Prompto looks at the man in shock. “Is… is that all?!”

“More or less.” He shrugs. “Now, do I have your word?” he asks, holding his hand out towards Prompto. “Those villagers won’t stop searching for you, so you’ll need a distraction to get a running head start.”

Prompto looks at the offered hand and sighs. He doesn’t have a choice and besides, it’s just to get some leaves for tea right? He’s probably just sending him to get some tea leaves from some magic mountain; what else would a witch brew into a drink that they would drink themselves? He reaches over and shakes the man’s hand feeling the magic swirl around his wrist and the man as the pact is formed. Prompto releases the man’s hand and watches as he disappears in a puff of smoke.

“... Ok, that’s ominous.” Prompto stares at the place where the masked man had been standing. “Did I just make a deal with a demon?”

He doesn’t have time to question what he did. The masked man was right. He needs to take his chance and move further into the woods. He needs to hide from the villagers and if the mysterious masked man is true to his word he’ll have a head start.

\-----

The next morning, Prompto wakes up under a familiar tree. He rubs his eyes and groans as he sits up. He doesn’t remember much of what happened towards the end of the night. All he remembers is the deal he made with Noctis, the mysterious man in the mask, and walking in the woods until his legs grew too heavy to move.

He looks up at the familiar tree and sighs, “Back to where I started… I guess I really don’t have a home anymore,” he groans, flopping back on the ground with a thud. He immediately yelps and rolls on his side. “Ugh, why did I do that?! Ow, my back,” he whines, feeling all the more pathetic for it.

Suddenly, a bird flies down from one of the branches above, swooping towards Prompto, hopping closer and closer until it nipped at his clothes with its beak. When Prompto tried to shoo it away he realized that it was a raven. The realization brought forth a memory from the night previous, in particular, the deal that he had made.

“I guess you’re the bird I’m supposed to follow?” Prompto asked, eyeing the bird.

The raven tilted its head and stopped pecking at his clothes, as though waiting.

“Is that… a yes?”

Again the bird tilted its head, this time-hopping closer to Prompto’s face.

“I wish you could just talk, that would be easier…”

The raven then began to drag and tap its beak along the ground, creating lines that soon turned into letters and then a word, and finally, words that read You should have asked that in the first place. He taps insistently on the period as though to make a point. Prompto sits dumbstruck until the raven scratches out the message with its feet after a moment to replace it with a new one: Follow.

“Oh, ummm, ok?” Prompto replied, standing up. “Where are we─”

Before he could finish, the bird took flight, soaring into the air and flying ahead of him. Prompto had to jog, trying to catch up before the raven disappeared from view. Whenever it would fly too far ahead, it would fly in a short circle or figure eight and wait for him, although Prompto could almost see some form of amusement in its eyes… at least, he hoped it was amusement.

Running after a raven that can zip through the air with ease was not something Prompto wanted to do, nor was following said raven only to literally bump into a huge grizzly bear and fox. The bear snarled quietly, as the fox stared at him with the most human expression of being inconvenienced and bored. Prompto threw up his hands to protect himself, but neither animal attacked. They stood, staring. Nothing happened. The tension was nerve-wracking t and completely threw him off his guard, his anxiety making magical sparks fly off of his palms before the infamous raven squawked loudly from above at him and the other animals.

To Prompto’s surprise, the bear and fox looked to the raven. This raven had a bear and a fox following his call. A raven. A bird of prey had these two land predators listening to him. This was turning into an adventure, alright. A strange and curious one. Why would these three animals be able to get along? It made no sense.

Either way, Prompto just reminded himself to stay in his lane and ignore the business of a nine-foot bear walking beside him or how the fox slithered in and out from under his feet, as nimble as well… as a fox.

“Would have loved to have that Raven masked guy explain all this. I mean I’m following, what, his pets in the woods to get something to brew for him?” He looks at the fox and bear as if they’re listening. “I wasn’t even told what it was, but I guess you’ll point it out to me, won’t you?” he asks the Raven flying overhead.

The raven only shakes his head, clearly willing himself to not swoop down and nip Prompto’s ears. Honestly, you would think a witch could see a powerful curse like his. Unfortunately, it looked like the one called Prompto was thicker than maple syrup.

As they journeyed through the woods, Prompto soon got tired of walking and stopped by a lake with a golden sheen to get a drink and refresh himself. He pauses a moment, looking at the lake before he recognizes it and startles, eyes going wide. “The Hidden Glass Lake?”

He turns to the Raven, “Why are we heading in the direction of the Black Rose?! Do you know how dangerous this is?!”

The raven hops on its feet and uses its claw to draw out three words. Yes. Black Rose.

“Oh… so he wants the Black Rose… sure!” Prompto throws his hands up. ”Sure! No problem! It’s not like, like no one has been able to grab a Black Rose!” He nearly yells in frustration. “That’s why they are considered so rare and dangerous, don’t you get it?!” He moans, hopeless at his prospects. “This is all my fault for not controlling my magic. Do you even know what you are getting into?” he asks, looking at the raven, “ No Witch or Wizard has been able to get a Black Rose since… since I don’t know in forever!”

Prompto lets out a devastating sigh., “I’m going to die, or my magic is going to get us killed getting there, and then Mr. Raven Mask is going to be angry and this bond promise is going to kill me.” He groans. “So, I either die by failing the magic bond, or by failing to get a Black Rose.,” He bites his fingers as he frets, not keeping watch on the lake as it begins to ripple from down below.

The fox narrows its eyes on the lake, letting out a quiet keen to the bear as Prompto wallows and moans, still lost in his thoughts. From the lake, rises eight horrible eyes, all staring at the group. The water flows down the creature’s back, showing off a large crustacean-like tail and claws that are tipped black and ooze with a disgusting smelling yellow pus.

It’s the scorpion of the lake.

Prompto hears the disturbing screeching, and jumps as the scorpion locks its eyes on him. It begins to scuttle towards him, all eight legs moving at top speed. The bear roars and charges at the scorpion’s side only to be swiped away. The fox nimbly climbs the back of the scorpion and scratches out one of its numerous eyes, before getting bucked to the ground.

Prompto, meanwhile, stands back in shock and holds his hands out in front of him, terrified, as if that will make the scorpion go away. In a way it does work: his magic takes over from his mind as thousands of lightning bolts burst from his fingertips to attack the creature. Lightning crackles throughout the creature’s body before dispersing into the ground. The creature doesn’t have time to make a sound as it crumbles to the ground, guts splayed out on the ground, its husk smoking from being fried by the lighting.

Prompto realizes just what he’s done and gasps. “I didn’t mean to do that,” he blurts out as the Raven perches on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t even trying to make a spell.” He shakes in place, and shakes his head. “See, this is why I need to control my magic and not… well, not do that.” The bear gives him the most human-like shrug and begins to chow down on the cooked scorpion as if this were an average afternoon snack.

“What are you doing?” Prompto asks the bear as if he will receive an answer. The bear just gives him a look before chowing down on the crispy scorpion, shortly followed by the fox. Prompto looks at both animals, then at his shoulder where the raven sits. He lets out a dry chuckle and decides he’s hungry too. “Bon appetit.”

Prompto doesn’t see the point in wasting meat and the animals seem to be enjoying the meal. They aren’t rolled over dead so it can’t be poisonous. He walks over to a piece of the carcass, and grimaces, seeing the blood drip from the broken-off leg. He grabs the leg and is about to start a fire to cook the leg, when the leg crunches and diminishes in his hand, turning into a dagger. 

“What the?” he stares at the silver dagger, with a turquoise embedded in the center or two onyx strips in the shape of an X on the hilt. He turns it over in his hand, feeling how balanced and light it is before placing it along his belt. 

“Okay, so we are on a cursed journey, is that it?” He asks the animals as if they’ll answer. They don’t. The bear continues to eat the carcass while the fox licks his paws and washes behind his ears. The raven just pokes Prompto on the cheek lightly with his beak.

Prompto nods his head nervously. “Right, sure, got it. So next guy we should run into is a dessert of some sort, then a goblin at the gate, before having to climb some vines to the Black Rose? Ok, that’s fine, everything is fine,” he laughs.

Prompto feels the raven scratch his head as if to comfort him. He smiles softly, sighs, and pats the bird on the head. “Right, it won’t be easy but then if I do this, everyone will take me seriously and that Noctis guy gets his very expensive tea.” He looks at the carcass one more time and pulls his face in disgust. “I’ll eat later. Let’s just get this delivery done so we can go home right guys - er, animal friends?” The group of animals look at him in confusion or bemusement - it’s hard to tell. “Please don’t start singing. I don’t think I can handle becoming a stereotype princess who sings with woodland animals.”

After a much-needed break, the group leaves the shimmering lake behind and heads deeper into the forest. Prompto follows the raven as the forest begins to grow. At least to Prompto, the trees seem to be getting taller and rounder the further they go. Almost as if the forest was alive, and not just in the “trees photosynthesizing” way. It wouldn’t surprise him if the forest was alive but still, it’s something he would have no part of. You don’t mess with living beings larger than you... or at least he didn’t before this journey. He really didn’t mean to make that scorpion explode.

The raven caws at him, and stops above a dead tree in front of a cave. Prompto looks to the fox and bear behind him, before turning back to the Raven. “You want me to go into the dark spooky cave?”

The raven squawks an obvious “yes” by his tone and tilts his head at Prompto.

“Oh, well, sure, I guess,” he says, waving his hands in the air. “Just, if there are tiny spaces, I’ll have to stop. Small spaces freak me out,” he laughs nervously as he grabs a dead tree branch from the ground. He studies it for a moment before gripping the top of the dry branch and blowing on it gently. A blue flame appears and glows at the tip. He smiles. “Making light is easy... always has been for some reason.” He takes a deep breath and braces himself, before entering the cave. 

“So, am I going nuts?” He wonders as he trudges on. “I mean, I’m talking to three animals and you can’t talk back, except for, I don’t know, writing in the sand, which brings the question of who had time to teach animals how to write in the sand? Then there’s the more logical answer: you are all cursed for some reason─”

The raven pecks at Prompto’s shirt before flying around his head and landing on his shoulder. Prompto eyes the raven and gasps. “I knew it! You’re cursed! You all are cursed!”

Unfortunately, the reverberation of Prompto’s revelation does not do well for the cave. The ground Prompto was standing on crumbles and he slides down a slippery smooth rock slide, screaming all the way down. The fox and bear follow down the slide, and really, it would have been comical if it weren’t happening to him!

Prompto’s ride comes to a sudden halt as he is thrown from the rock slide towards a solid wall of blue and white stone, and he hits it with a smack. He groans as he sits up, staring at the rock in a daze, before a flurry of hairy limbs and tails greets him in the form of a heavy bear and a nimble fox hitting the wall right after him and falling on top of him. The raven, however, simply flies over both creatures and lands on Prompto’s head, without any injuries.

“I swear, if you poop on my head, you won’t get any more rides on my shoulder,” groans Prompto as the bear and fox crawl off of him so he can get his bearings and retrieve his glowing stick torch. He holds up the glowing stick staring at the white and blue swirling wall in confusion. It doesn’t make sense, seeing these colors down so far deep. Someone or something must have been down here before to paint it, or magic it, or something. He places his hand on the stone looking for a switch or latch or any clue to figure out this stone wall, when suddenly the stone begins to shiver and crumble into millions of sticky gel-like insects.

Prompt jumps back, screaming. “Bugs! Oh my gosh, nope! Nope, I’m done, I hate bugs.” He cries in panic as the gel bugs begin to morph and form into a gelatinous monster with sickening yellow eyes. It speaks nothing and lurches forward, quicker than it looks like it could possibly be, towards the group. 

The bear charges at it first, using its paws to cut the gelatinous monster to pieces. This does nothing, as it just sticks itself back together and reforms, over and over and over again. It might slow the thing down, but it doesn’t seem like this slime can be killed with just a simple swipe of claws. 

Prompto holds the glowing stick in front of him to ward off the slime monster before thinking of a spell to defeat this jello-like creature - a flan, though he’s never seen one before and only heard whispers - when it comes to him, and he works up a little bit of magic. The fox dashes out of the way of the flan as Prompto releases his spell. He waves his hands in intricate motions before aiming them at the flan, and a cool hiss echoes around them. Snow forms around the flan as Promtpo’s eyes glow bright blue. The flan begins to freeze as ice takes over its body in wave after wave. The flan struggles, trying to regroup and getaway, but every time it moves another piece of its body is frozen solid: another piece that it can’t regenerate. Eventually, the flan is immobilized in ice and the bear takes a huge swipe at the frozen flan to shatter it into pieces. 

The flan’s frozen yellow eyes slide towards Prompto’s feet and melts. Prompto waves his hands, quick to ready the spell for ice for the next attack. Instead, Prompto watches as the eyes morph and lengthen into a sword covered in gold and silver. Prompto can barely lift it and instead shrinks the broad sword so it can join the dagger on his belt.

“Okay, does this feel like some sort of adventure game or what?” He asks the animals who only stare at him in confusion before the Raven squawks and takes wing again, leading the way once more. Prompto really needs a rest. He wants this journey to be over so he can be in exile in peace. It’s not like he can return home, and even if he was to ask the masked man about staying somewhere safe, why would the guy do it? He saw how destructive Prompto was, and not even his own master could teach him to control his powers.

He’s trying not to feel sorry for himself when the raven squawks loudly in front of a wall of vines. Prompto looks around confused and shakes his head. “No light but vines are growing in a cave... okay, so that means magic vines, meaning they’re dangerous right? But they don’t look dangerous. They look like I can climb them...” he speaks to himself, looking up the wall. He spots a rock pedestal and growing there in the darkness is the black rose. “Of course it’s at the top of this creepy vine. Great, just great,” he mumbles to himself, pacing. “Okay, it’s just a little height, it can’t hurt you... except if you fall, crack your neck and die, but I can do it. Just have to climb up the vines,” he says, eyeing the sickly green vines that seem to have no end or beginning in sight. He shakes out his hands as the fox and bear guard his back. The raven, of course, has left his side and sits at the top where the rose currently waits to be plucked.

Prompto grabs the first vine and realizes his mistake too late as the vine instantly wraps around his arm, and then quickly snares his legs. He struggles in the vines, hearing the roar of the bear as it claws at the vines, which only seem to grow more in size and entangle the animals with ease. Prompto can’t move his hands or speak as the vine is coiling around his body like a vicious cobra. He looks around, panicked. He has to concentrate, has to focus and calm down or he’ll be gone! He closes his eyes and focuses on burning light, just regular burning light. A soft glow of blue envelopes him as the vines around his body begin to disintegrate and turn to ash. He climbs up the usable vines left, the bright light both keeping the attacking vines at bay and destroying them as he climbs up towards the rose. It takes a few minutes before he reaches the top with an overeager raven squawking at him.

Prompto lets out a deep breath feeling the magic disperse from his body and fill the cave. He glares at the raven. “You know, you didn’t help at all! You just lead the way and... you know what, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get this rose and go back to your master,” he states reaching for the rose.

Instead what he finds is the vines had turned into a mess of black ooze and formed into a tiny circular object. Prompto kneels down and picks up the black-coated ring with intricate designs. He gasps, “This is… isn’t this Prince Noctis’ Ring? How... why is it here?” he gasps, taking a final look before placing it in his pocket. The raven squawks at him. “I’m going to give it back, don’t give me that look,” he grumbles.

“Just, I wanna know why would it be here,” he asks, confused, then returns his attention to the task at hand. He takes a knife and cuts the rose from the stem with ease. He waits, listening for any sudden sounds or clicks or clacks. This whole journey has been a fiasco since the moment he left, who knew what might happen? However, nothing happens. There is no rolling boulder not sudden lava lake spring up beneath his feet. Nothing happens.

“Well that was anticlimactic,” he speaks more to himself as he places the rose in a leather pouch and ties it around his belt.

A grunt was heard from the bear down below. Prompto looks down at the bear and the fox crawling on top of the bears back as if it belonged them. He feels the raven land on his shoulder and gives him a side-eye look. “Okay, so we got everything, now how do we get out?”

Fortunately, getting out is easier than getting in. It takes some time and persistence, but before long they are outside of the cave and see the sun beginning to set. Prompto looks at the setting sun, confused.

“Okay, either it only took one day to do a quest or this whole forest is made of magic and time is different in this area,” he states as the Raven hops off his shoulder and flies away. “Hey, wait up, where are you going?!” The bird ignores his shouts and disappears into the forest with quickness Prompto can not hope to match.

Prompto sighs. “Well, fine, leave. At least the bear and fox are-” he turns around and sees that just like the raven, they have disappeared.

Prompto raises his hands in the air in a shrug. “I guess I’ll find my own way home!” He shouts into the empty forest. He rubs the back of his head and looks around the forest noticing how quickly the sun is setting.

“I’m going to camp here tonight and make a move-out tomorrow. Too dark to travel this late,” he grumbles as he looks for a sturdy tree to spend the night. He’s not going to chance laying on the ground at night with no source of light to protect himself. He pushes through some bushes before finding a large enough tree that can hold his weight and can hide his form from all sorts of predators. He’s just placed his hand on one of the branches when he hears a familiar voice.

“Good evening Prompto,” The masked man, from the night before, is standing just at the edge of Prompto’s clearing. Prompto yelps as he stumbles and lands on his back. He looks up at the masked man tilting his head in confusion.

“How did you even find me,” he wonders, turning himself over to stand up. He brushes the dirt from his pants, looking him in the face. “So, I got your rose along with some other items,” he raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t say there was going to be three monsters to defeat!”

“My apologies,” answers a tall man wearing a fox mask. Prompto startles at the new voice and backs up. “It seems that the young master forgets certain obstacles.”

“…who are you? Are you both going to kill me?” He backs away from both masked men until his back hits something solid and warm. Prompto tilts his head up and sees that he’s walked into a massive man wearing a bear mask looking down at him.

He lets out a startled squeak when the man with the bear mask laughs.

He moves away from the man and looks at all three masked men confused. “Okay, so, I feel like you’re not going to hurt me, but you all look very creepy wearing those masks, so you know what? Here.” 

Prompto unties the pouch containing the black rose and offers it towards the man with the raven mask. “It’s the Black Rose…I also have other items that dropped from those monsters,” he says handing over the dagger, unshrinking the large sword, and handing the ring to the masked men.“Just, don’t kill me okay? Or bad magic will happen. I’m kind of famous for it.” Prompto laughs sadly.

“We are not going to kill you,” answers the man with the fox mask as he retrieved the daggers from the raven masked man.

“Why should we kill someone one who helped us?” The man in the bear mask wonders, then summons a cauldron from the ground as the fox masked man starts a fire nearby. Noctis says nothing to Prompto and, with a wave of his hand, makes water appear in the cauldron, and it boils almost immediately. Then, he places the Black Rose in the cauldron.

Prompto watches all three in confusion as they each take the items Prompto had retrieved and hold them above their head before tapping the cauldron three times. Okay, Prompto reasoned, this is a spell. At least he knows that much. He watches as the one with the raven mask conjures three mugs and dips the mugs into the mixture of the Black Rosewater and passes a mug to each. They then take the mug and sip through a small opening of the mask.

Prompto watches curiously, noting no changes to the masked men at first, until he hears cracking. The masks on their faces crumple like breaking glass before popping off like corks into the air. The air sizzles with magic and brightens the night sky as the masks dissipate with a crackle. Prompto covers his face from the mini-explosions and blinks his eyes seeing three men now standing around the cauldron.

“I, uh… see you’re still the same guys from before.” He all three. The one man with glasses chuckles.

“Yes, though curse free at this point,” he smiles. “My name is Ignis and this is Gladio,” he motions to the larger man with a scar across his right eye. “And you have already met Noctis,” he says waving towards the man with black hair.

Prompto’s mouth drops open. The Noctis! Prince Noctis! The most famous and successful wizard ever! That Noctis!

The man snorts: “So you know of me then?”

“Did I say that out loud,” Prompto squeaks out blushing.

“Don’t get too excited, he can’t even lift a weapon,” snorts Gladio.

“Or scramble eggs,” Ignis chimes in.

Noctis rolls his eyes., “Yeah, yeah, but I got us, someone, to break the curse at least.”

“You were cursed to wear cheap masks?” Prompto asks, eyebrows working up with confusion.

Noctis flushes. “Uh, not really. You know those animals I told you would lead you? The raven, the bear, and the fox… ell, that was us. So, thanks for breaking the curse.”

“I… but I didn’t do that much! I mean, why couldn’t you get the Black Rose,” he asks. “No offense but you were humans wearing a mask so you could have done it right?”

“We were bound by those items you found after defeating the monster,” Ignis explains. “Mine was the dagger and once I approached the monster that held the dagger, I could not continue the journey. The same was for the others. We could not do this by ourselves and needed help.”

“But why me? I destroy everything with magic.” Prompto frowns, but Noctis grins.

“That’s why you would be the best. Magic follows rules and yours doesn’t. It’s raw and uncontrollable,” he explains as Prompto frowns, “but it can be trained. You’re powerful, you just need some guidance, which is why I thought I would ask you to be my apprentice.”

Prompto looks at Noctis, more confused than ever. “Really?”

Noctis smiles. “Yeah, really. Besides, it would be nice to have someone my own age to hang out with instead of just these two.” 

Gladio snorts, “What am I, chopped spleen?” 

Ignis smirks. “Yes, I take offense as well.”

Prompto fidgets with his fingers, thinking. The Noctis is willing to train him. He can help him control his powers! Made braver by his adventure, Prompto nods his head. “Yeah. I’ll be your apprentice!”

From there, the real adventure began. 

  
  
  
  



End file.
